Chapter 17 #2
Sloane was happy for her. She had no doubt that Freya couldn’t even look at another man because she was so in love with Gair. Her father had absolutely nothing to worry about. They did nothing but reinforce what fate already had in the works.
Soon Freya would see it and she’d see how bright her future was.
“Ye will meet with him tonight. Be honest with how ye feel about him and be honest about yer fears. Clear the air and tomorrow, ye will be so happy,” Sloane said as she hugged her tightly.
“Ye sound so sure of yerself.”
“Because I am. I have a feeling that tonight is going to change everything for ye.”
Lachlan, Gair, and her father returned just before dinner. They each wore a grim expression, and Sloane hoped it was because they were unsuccessful and not because they tried to kill each other while they were out there.
“Is everything all right?” she asked softly as her husband joined her at the table. The men were watching them uneasily as if they expected the three to start to brawl any minute.
“Aye,” he said shortly. “We tracked the wolf, but we couldna catch him.”
“You were distracted. You’ll get him next time,” Sloane assured him.
She looked to Gair hoping that she might catch him and Freya exchanging warm looks, but Gair and her father were too busy glaring at each other.
Clearly, something had happened between them, but she knew that he wasn’t going to talk about it here in the open.
After the food was served, tensions eased and conversation settled as they plotted how best to hunt and capture the wolf.
Sloane couldn’t help but notice that her husband avoided looking at her for most of dinner and her stomach twisted as she looked at her father.
What had happened out there in the forest? What had her father done?
After dinner, she excused herself, but Lachlan didn’t follow her up. He barely acknowledged her. Fretting in her room, she paced for hours. The moon was high in the sky before Lachlan returned to his chambers. His eyes were hard and cold as he entered.
“I know something happened,” she whispered. “Just tell me what it was. I know my father did something. Ye doona have to hide it from me.”
“Yer father didna do anything untoward,” he growled as he pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the ground.
“In fact, yer father was downright friendly and chatty during the trip. In fact, he told me about how he abhorred hunting. He told me about the time that he took ye out with him and ye were nearly killed.”
Confused, Sloane stared at him. “I have no memory of this,” she said slowly. “If I went hunting with my father, I must have been verra young.”
“Really? Because he told me it was just a short while ago. He told me how it scarred him so badly that he swore he would never hunt again,” Lachlan said in a dangerous voice as he stepped toward her. “What kind of game are ye playing, Sloane?”
“Game? I have no idea what ye are talking about.”
“Really? So, ye didna meet my cousin on that trip? Ye didna shoot him thinking that he was your prey?”
His voice lashed out angrily and Sloane gasped and stumbled back. “No. That never happened!”
“All of yer cries about how ye were forgotten as a child, all of yer drama about yer father, and all this time, ye were just hiding the fact that ye killed Quinn. Did ye think that I wouldna understand? Accidents happen. I wouldna have married ye, but I wouldna have demanded retribution!”
“Lachlan, please,” she pleaded. “I doona know what my father has said, but I can assure ye that I never met yer cousin and my father certainly never took me hunting!”
He snarled at her. “All yer father has done is to protect ye and yet ye demanded that he come with us. Were ye hoping that Gair would kill him? Or perhaps I would? To hide yer secret.”
“Why would ye trust him over me?” Sloane whispered. “Why would ye take his word?” Her whole body ached for her father’s betrayal and the apparent thin thread of trust between her and her husband.
Balling his hands into fists, he stared at her fiercely before his whole body sagged. “I doona know what to think,” he admitted finally. “Ye are secretive about yer father.”
“What do ye want to know, Lachlan? My father didna raise me. I was tucked away in the abandoned wing of the keep and raised by the servants. I would go weeks without seeing him. Months even. When he did seek me out, it was because he wanted to know something about the servants. He wasna loving. He wasna cruel. Then he sought me out and told me to get some dresses together because we were going to a funeral. He didna take me hunting. He didna do anything with me and I doona talk about it because ’tis humiliating when one’s own family cannae love ye. ”
Feeling like she was stripped bare in front of him, Sloane wrapped her hands around herself and tears sprang to her eyes.
“Tell me that ye arena lying to me,” he said harshly as he crossed the room and forced her chin up. “Please, make me believe ye.”
“I can only tell ye what I know. I cannae make ye believe. I didna meet yer cousin. I didna kill him. My father is lying to ye.”
“All right,” he said soothingly. “’Tis all right, Sloane. I doona know what I was thinking except that I didna understand why ye wanted me to go hunting with him. I could tell that ye didna care about us bonding.”
“I should have just told ye the truth,” she muttered as she sank into his warmth.
“I had planned on speaking to my father this evening and letting him know that he wasna welcome here anymore if he couldna respect my position as yer wife. I wanted to have the day to myself to prepare. I wasna sure that I could go through with it. As it was, I had the conversation with him this morning before he left.”
“I’m proud of ye,” he said as he kissed the top of her head and held her tight.
Sloane wanted to believe him, but just a few moments ago, he was accusing her of killing his cousin. She knew that the loss pained him, but she didn’t realize just how much anger he carried around. It was terrifying to have that anger aimed at her.
Finally, she extricated herself from his hold. “Dinner was hours ago. What have ye been doing?”
“Gair and I patrolled the land looking for evidence of the wolf. I had planned to be out later, but he had something that he had to do.”
Sloane thought of Freya, and her heart warmed. “Aye,” she said softly.
“Ye know?” he asked with a grin. “I suppose I cannae keep ye innocent forever, but I was hoping ye didna realize how brainless my men can be.”
“I doona think ’tis brainless.” She thought it was romantic and she wanted to defend him.
“No? I personally think that he will probably catch a chill and die, but I think he will survive long enough to marry my sister.”
“Catch a chill and die?”
Lachlan snorted. “Aye. Some bet that he lost with his men on the way over here. They intend to dunk him bare naked in the cold waters of the loch tonight. He has been fretting over it for days.”
“Days.” Sloane looked up sharply. If Gair knew that his men were going to dunk him in the cold waters tonight then it meant that he didn’t write Freya that note.
Dear Lord, who was she meeting in the chamber?